Illuminated sign



may Wil, gl'i. H. c. HAMMER ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed oct. 2, 1937 ai?) .Wam/m62 Patented May 24, 1938 ammi mLUmNATED. SIGN Hyman C. Hammer, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Price Brothers, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation, o!A Illinois Application October 2, 1.937, Serial No. 166,992

6 Claims. (Cl. 40-130) mism illumination for lighting the edge of a glass panel to give an edge glow effect, said glass panel being arranged to close the forward open end of a hollow casing, the interior of which casing receives illumination fromsaid single light source, said glass panel being opaque, except for a transparent peripheral border, with the result that when the interior of the hollow casing is illuminated, said transparent border will present the eEect of a.

luminescent tube of illuminated neon gas or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign structure of the character described, including a casing open at its bottom and rear ends only, means for mounting a source of light with-- in said casing, a glass panel arranged within a slot provided in the top wall of said casing, with the bottom edge of said panel disposed within said casingfor receiving illumination therefrom, and a hollow member secured to the rear of said casing with the rear Wall of said hollow member being spaced from the rear edge of said casing to provide communication between said casing and said hollow memberfor the passage of'illumination into said hollow member, the forward portion of said hollow member being closed by said glass panel,4 said panel having itsA peripheral border only transparent, so that when said hollow member is illuminated, said transparent border will present the appearance `of a. luminescent tube, and the front wall of said casing being provided with an opening arranged for receiving a member bearing suitable indicia and to be illuminated by the light source within said casing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sign structure of the character described which will be simple in manufacture, assembly and operl ation, which maybe constructed along lines convenient for low-cost manufacture, and which will, at the same time, be highlyl emcient for carrying Y out the purposes for which it is designed.

With the foregoing and other objects' in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds, the

invention consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being uny myself August 9, ,1937 and bearing Serial No.

derstood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from 4the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the in-` vention. a

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my inventlon,'I have illustrated in theaucompanying drawing a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following descrip. 10 tion, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly an'd operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawing, in which the saine l5 characters of reference. are employed, to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several viigures of the drawing:

v. Fig. lis a front elevational view of a sign strucf ture embodying the principles oi' my invention, parts thereof being broken away to illustrate the interior construction thereof; l Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the .same taken substantially on line 2 3 of Fig. 1;

forming the basis of the present application,

is an improvement von an application led by Referring to the drawing more specifically by characters of reference, the numeral IW designates generally a hollow, base which may be `f ormed of any suitable material, such as cast metal or the like, and which may assume any 40 size or shape. Said hollow b'ase is provided with the side walls Il, the front wall l2 and the top wall i3, and being. open at its bottom'and rear.

The open bottom wall of said hollow basey is adapted to be closed by avplate member Il of sheet metal or the like, which member is detachably' secured in place to said `hollow base by means of the screws l5, which extend through the plate member I4 and are received inthreaded relation in screw-threaded openings provided therefor in the ends walls Il of said hollow base member I0.

Carried on the inner face of theplate member I4 are the lamp sockets i6,'there being one of said sockets arranged adjacent each end of said 4 plate'member I4, and each bf said sockets is provided with alight bulb I 1. A conducting cord 1 I4, the outer edges 2l of which are turned upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit the passage of air into the'casing, but to prevent the passage of light through said openings; I9.

'I'he front wall of said hollow base I Il is provided intermediate the ends thereof with an opening 23, which opening is adapted to be closed by a suitable member 24 of glass or other suitable material, upon which member may be provided desired transparent indicia such as reading matter and the like for advertising purposes, said member 24 being illuminated directly by the light source I'I when the sign is in operative condition.

The member 24 may be held in place against the opening 23 by means of the clips 25, detachably secured in place to the inner face of the front wall of the hollow base I by means of the screws 26.

Provided in the upper wall I3 of said hollow base is a slot 21 which extends substantially -across the full length of said hollow base, and

within which slot is adapted to be disposed a glass panel 28 with the bottom edge thereof being received-within the hollow base as shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 5, so that said edge may be illuminated by the light source II disposed within said hollow base.

Attached to the rear of said member 28 is an opaque member 29, upon which may be provided suitable reading matter for advertising purposes and the like, said member 29 covering substantially the entire rear surface of said member 28, except for a narrow band 30 extending around the peripheral border of said member 28, which band is left transparent for a purpose to be' presently more fully described.

'I'he structure. so far described is provided with a back 3|, shaped substantially as shown in the drawing, and formed of suitable sheet metal or the like, said back being secured to the side walls of the hollow base I0 by means of the screws 32 or in some other suitable and well known manner, and when in assembled position will form with said hollow base and panel 28 a substantially closed compartment 33, which will communicate by mea-nsof the passage 34 with the interior of the hollow base'carrying the light source I'I.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the

i panel 28 isv arranged so as to substantially close the entire forward opening of the member 3I. The said member 3I has its interior surface provided with a coating of suitable paint or the like to give to the same a relatively dull finish and also a smooth and uniform surface. The result of this arrangement'is that the entire interior of the compartment 33 will be illuminatedwhenA the light source II is illuminated -and as the panel 28 has a backing 29 of opaque material provided thereon, said backing will beeiective for blockingA out all of the illuminated interior of vthe compartment except for the narrow band around the edge of the interior which may be viewed through the transparent band 38 on the panel 28. As-the embodiment illustrated is to be used as a counter sign, the plate member I4 has secured thereto adjacent each end thereof, the cross members 35, to the free ends of which may be attached the rubber feet 36, so as to avoid injury to the surface upon which the sign may be disposed.

From the above it will be apparent that when the light bulbs I'I are connected to a source of current, it will illuminate the interior of the hollow base as well as the interior of the back member 3I with the result that the panel 24 will be illuminated, producing a so-called bulls-eye effect. The edge of the panel 28 will likewise be illuminated, producing the so-called wellknown edge-glow effect, while, at the same time,

`the transparent band 30 of said panel 28 will permit a view of the edge portion of the hollow illuminated interior of the compartment 33 which in effect will produce a band of light substantially of a width equal to that of the transparent band 38 of the panel 28, thus presenting the effect of a luminescent tube of light, thereby giving the sign a highly attractive and unique appearance. .It will also be noted that this highly desired result is accomplished with avery simple structure containing only a minimum number of parts and only a single source of illumination. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specific shape or Size of the sign structure illustrated, as the rdesired effects may be produced by a sign of any size or shape having a compartment for receiving a source'of illumination, which compartmentis in communication with a second compartment so as to permit the passage of light from said first compartment into said second compartment, the forward wall of said second compartment being closed by a member, the edge of which receives illumination from the first compartment and the outer periphery of which is provided with a transparent band so that when said second compartment is illuminated, it will produce the effect of a luminescent tube.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable o'f wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A sign of the character described, comprising a casing having a top, front and side walls, a

detachably secured bottom wall for said casing and a source of illumination mounted on the inside of the said bottom wall, a slot formed in the top wall of said casing, a glass panel having its bottom edge disposed within said slot,

and a back secured to said casing and arranged to form therewith a closed lower compartment,

said back extending upwardly .from said casing,

and arranged to form with said glass panel an upper compartment, said two compartments being in communication with each other to permit the passage of light from the lower compartment to the upper compartment, the forward open portion of said upper compartment being closed by the'glass panel and an opaque member arranged on the rear face of said glass panel `and covering substantially the entire surface thereof except for' a 'peripheral border, and a source of illumination mounted within said lower compartment whereby when said lower compartment is illuminated, it will be effective for illuminating the bottom edge of said glass panel,l

as well as the interior oi` the upper compartment, with the result that the transparent peripheral border of said panel will present the effect of a luminescent tube. v

2. A sign of the character described, including a lower and upper compartment, said lower compartment having a source of illumination mounted `therein, which when illuminated will also provide illumination for the upper compartment, said upper compartment extending upwardly and rearwardly of said lower compartment, a glass panel for closing the forward portion of said upper compartment and having its bottom edge disposed within the lower commrtment for receiving illumination therefrom, said glass panel being opaque throughout its entire surface except for a peripheral transparent border, whereby when the sign is illuminated said transparent border will present the edect of a luminescent tube.

3. A sign of the character described, including a lower compartment and an upper compartment extending rearwardly and upwardly of said lower compartment, a glass panel for closing the forwardportlon of `said upper compartment and having its bottom edge disposed within said lower compartment for receiving illumination therefrom, a source of light mounted within said lower compartment and being adapted for illuminating said glass panel as well as the interior of said upper compartment, an opaque member mounted on the rear surface of saidv glass panel and covering substantially the entire rear surface thereof except for a peripheral bore der, whereby upon the illumination of the interior of said upper compartment said transparent border will present the effect of a luminescent tube.

4. A sign of the character described, including a casing having a top, front and side walls, said front wall being provided with a translucent indicia bearing member, a glass panel carried by the top wall of said casing and having its bottom edge disposed within said casing for receiving illumination therefrom, a detachably secured bottom wall for said casing, a light source mounted on the interior of said bottom wall for illuminating said casing and a back secured to said casing arranged to form' therewith a closed lower compartment, said back extending upwardly and rearwardly of said casing, said upper portion thereof forming with'said glass panel an upper compartment which is in communication with said lower compartment for receiving illumination therefrom, said glass panel having an opaque member arranged on the rear surface thereof, the peripheral edge of said opaque member being spaced from the peripheral edge of said back member, whereby when the upper compartment is illuminated the light passing through said space will present the effect of a luminescent tube.

5. A sign 'of the character described, including a casing formed so as to 'provide a lowerlcompartment and an upper compartment extending inwardly of said front face of said lower compartment, a source of illumination mounted in said lower compartment and adapted for illuminating both of said compartments, the forward portion of said upper compartment being closed by a' glass panel, the bottom edge of which is disposed within said lower compartment for receiving illumination therefrom, an opaque niember mounted on the rear surface of said glass panel and covering-substantially the entire panel except for a peripheral border, whereby said border will permit the passage of light therethrough when the sign is illuminated to present the edect of a luminescent tube.

6. A sign of the character described, including a casing formed so as to provide a lower compartment and an upper compartment extending' the effect of a luminescent tube, the front wall of said lower compartment being provided with an opening intermediate the ends thereof adapted for receiving a. translucent indicia bearingl member which will be illuminated by the source of illumination mounted within said compartment. 

